Recommendation? WWII Japanese Sword Identification and Maintenance Request

C

Carpathice

Joined
Sep 8, 2023
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5
Greetings and salutations! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

I have a WWII Japanese sword that I traded my uncle a knee board for the sword when I was a kid. He found it in a house he purchased in Key West. It was above the door frame inside a closet.
I apologize for not knowing the correct terms. I did some Internet research and the information was all over the place. It was hard to separate truth from fiction. The sword is pretty rusty on the outside, the blade itself isn't too bad. It has a metal sheath/ scabbard that has some brown paint on it that could be original. The hilt appears to be shark/ manta ray skin wrapped with a cloth strap. The scabbard has a single ring. The hilt is rounded with a tassel hole in it. I think someone added a screw to the tang hole closest to the blade. The tang has two holes. the bamboo pin in the back hole is broken in half with one half still stuck in the hilt. The blade itself has little rust on it and is coated in what looks, smells, and feels like really old axle grease. Possibly someone coated it in axle grease to try to prevent it from rusting. There are what appears to be Japanese characters on both sides of the tang. I couldn't make them out due to the rust build up. The sword has a safety release to lock it in the scabbard, however the catch is broken and the button is seized up. There are some nicks in the blade.

I would like to clean it up a little and didn't want to damage the sword any further than it already is by doing it incorrectly. Any advice on how to clean the sword would be greatly appreciated. If anyone has any further information about what type this sword is or how to identify if it is factory made, handmade, or possibly a blade that had the hilt altered for WWII purposes.

Sword Photos:
https://imgur.com/a/7ox3fzI

Thank you kindly!
Carp
 
Last edited:
This sword is signed Masauji. Dated 1943.

It is mounted in a late war Type 3 gunto mount. These swords are what have always been incorrectly referred to as "Marine Landing Sword". These late war or Type 3 swords had nothing to do with Marine or Naval landings and in fact were made for Army officers. This myth is thought to have been generated due to the round naval style tsuba on them.

I can't see if there are any arsenal stamps on the tang, but there could be one under the habaki (ALL fittings should be removed before photographing) or the rust.

As for cleaning, for the most part it is best left alone. The orange colored rust can brushed with a nylon brush (not metal brushes). Any chunks or built up rust can be removed with a sharpened piece of bone or antler. LEAVE the darker rust (patination) alone. The blade is probably covered in cosmoline as this was commonly done by GI's. It can be cleaned off with denatured alcohol or acetone. Then oil the entire blade to prevent further deterioration. You can use something like gun oil, but good old 3-in-1 oil will work just fine for this.

Never clean the tang or blade more than I have described. Never use sand paper or any type of abrasive to remove rust or oxides from the blade.

It is unlikely this blade would be worth restoration, unless it had extreme personal sentimental value and you have money to burn.

Ed
Yakiba.com
 
SouthernComfort said:
This sword is signed Masauji. Dated 1943.

It is mounted in a late war Type 3 gunto mount. These swords are what have always been incorrectly referred to as "Marine Landing Sword". These late war or Type 3 swords had nothing to do with Marine or Naval landings and in fact were made for Army officers. This myth is thought to have been generated due to the round naval style tsuba on them.

I can't see if there are any arsenal stamps on the tang, but there could be one under the habaki (ALL fittings should be removed before photographing) or the rust.

As for cleaning, for the most part it is best left alone. The orange colored rust can brushed with a nylon brush (not metal brushes). Any chunks or built up rust can be removed with a sharpened piece of bone or antler. LEAVE the darker rust (patination) alone. The blade is probably covered in cosmoline as this was commonly done by GI's. It can be cleaned off with denatured alcohol or acetone. Then oil the entire blade to prevent further deterioration. You can use something like gun oil, but good old 3-in-1 oil will work just fine for this.

Never clean the tang or blade more than I have described. Never use sand paper or any type of abrasive to remove rust or oxides from the blade.

It is unlikely this blade would be worth restoration, unless it had extreme personal sentimental value and you have money to burn.

Ed
Yakiba.com
Click to expand...
Ed

Thank you kindly for your wonderful reply! I have taken your advice and cleaned the blade with denatured alcohol and a cotton cloth and it took the cosmoline off with a bit of elbow grease. I brushed the tang with a nylon brush to get some of the rust off. I wiped it down with alcohol as well. I took additional photos. The writing is more visible now. I oiled the blade and metal parts with gun oil. I also removed the habaki. Is it ok to oil the tang as well? I really appreciate your advice and the knowledge that you shared!
https://imgur.com/a/3ROekPo

Peter
 
You are welcome. Generally speaking most people say not to oil the tang. However, in this case there was so much red rust that I would say yes oil it. That should prevent the rust from returning.

Look above the signature (towards tip) for any small stamp. Depending on how and where they were made non-traditional swords are struck with an arsenal stamp.

See attached photo of examples of Seki and Showa stamps.

Stamps.jpg
 
I do apologize for the orientation. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to be. Thank you kindly for the information and advice. I will oil the tang and see if any additional marks become visible.
 
I oiled the tang and no additional marks showed up. I examined the tang completely with a jewelers loop. I also used chalk to get the markings to show up better and look for additional markings. Then I removed the chalk with a bit of gun oil and a cotton cloth. I attached the photos of the tang with the chalk and in the proper orientation.
https://imgur.com/a/wsszy7P
 
The photo above is the date which I already provided.

A couple of tips in the event you ever post additional photos of acquire another sword.
1. Always orient the sword correctly, which is tip up, tang down.
2. Shoot your photos against a darker background with good lighting. A white background causes the camera to focus on the white background resulting in your subject being too dark (see recent photo). The exception is if you have a good camera and understand using the "white balance". Good lighting can be artificial, however, bright indirect sunlight such as near a bright window without the sun shining directly on the blade can work well also. A cloudy day outside works. You just have to play around with it until you get it right. If the first time doesn't come out right do it over until it does.
3. While it is important to provide photos of the entire tang without any fittings. Getting close-ups of the mei (signature) and date is equally important for identification. **It is critical that the close ups are shot straight on (not an angle) and show the entire mei in focus. Out of focus photos are a waste of everyones time. For a long mei, it may be necessary to provide two overlapping photos. See example below of how a photo of a mei should look.
4. Chalk, do not use it. It is not necessary if one takes the time to get good photos. Chalk can actually fill in details that are needed for thorough evaluation.

Mei_FullSize.jpeg
 
Seeing the close-up date on the tang, I tend to think the date is September 1939.
I see 昭和十四年9月。
The degree of wear on the 4th kanji could be 8 八or 4 四.
I say that particulary since the Wa in Showa 和 is so severely worn.
In any case made in September either 1939 (Showa 14) or 1943(Showa 18).
 
Thanks again for the advice. If I come across another sword in the future, I will take better photos. I really appreciate the advice.
 
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